Kaiser Schnitzel posted:

Tape down a ~cm square sheet of thickish plastic to the concrete floor for a few days and see if condensation builds up under it. That will let you know if you need a plastic vapor barrier between the 2x and the floor. If the paint is in decent shape that probably means it doesn't sweat too much. How bad is the slope? There are some self-leveling masonry compounds you can pour over the existing slab, but that may be unreasonably expensive vs doing what you're considering.

Shifty Pony posted:

When the toilet clogs the problem is almost always in the bends of the toilet itself, so it sitting full of liquid shouldn't cause more water to come out of a leaking gasket.

I'm wondering if it is a bad tank seal that gets dislodged by movement like vigorous plunging. Or something crazy like a defective channel which is normally dry but when the flush happens it fills up and leaks so when the flush doesn't drain normally it stays full of water and a bunch leaks out. You might not be able to see either of them because that toilet has a fancy outer shell hiding things.

I would bet tank seal though, and some internal passage between the top of the toilet and the bottom that is letting the water through.

Mustache Ride posted:

Hunter

Edit: specifically the expensive premium ones. The cheap ones are trash

couldcareless posted:

Who makes good quality ceiling fans these days? The one in our living room needs replacing.

DaveSauce posted:

At what price point does Hunter become good? Want to say we've paid up to $150 for a Hunter and still got garbage. Which doesn't surprise me, but it's hard to really trust that a brand that sells piles of junk via big box stores can actually have a reliable option at any price point. Usually companies will try to distinguish their mass-market trash under a separate brand.

OBAMNA PHONE posted:

House thread...what is my best option for dealing with a contractor who has not completed the work as agreed upon in the contract? Small claims? I'm guessing I can't get a lawyer to write a nasty letter to get it resolved?

To summarize the situation they installed central air conditioning but subbed the work out to a company who was not legally permitted to do electral work, so they did not get the permit and inspection of electrical work done. I'm tired of waiting for them to get their poo poo together because they already have my money and have no incentive to do anything now.

OBAMNA PHONE posted:

However I don't know poo poo about the law

quote:

ptier posted:

ptier posted:

( at fascia & roof. )

So, where I am now:

I have gotten in touch to see what the hell they want to do, but they may ( I haven't had a chance to follow up so hard last week because of work ) have ghosted me. Which will not end well for them. I'm going to start calling outside the group I'm talking to and make a stink out the rear end. I feel like every time the lesson I learn is "do it yourself, NO ONE cares about your poo poo except you". I may also just not have good luck with people ( and this one was admittedly my fault for going with poo poo brand X).

So please, point and laugh and enjoy my teeth grinding.

devicenull posted:

Ah, good to see you went with the bird nest upgrade

PainterofCrap posted:

Write letters or email. Calling will do no good. You need a paper trail.

Give them a time frame. "If I do not hear from you within (1-week) of this email, I will be filing a small-claims-court suit. Your move."

This may work with the A/C asshats as well

If they don't respond, print those photos out & take 'em to court.

slidebite posted:

Do you guys have any of the recent mini-thermal cameras that attach to your cell? Is there a recommended one?

I bought one of the first generation Seek cameras several years ago, I didn't use it much but when I did it was handy.

It's micro USB so looking for something that got (hopefully) higher res, better app (the Seek app was clunky as gently caress) and USB-C. Looks like there is quite a few different models on the market now. I needed to use one the other day so I had to dust off my old original Moto G which luckily did what I needed.

slidebite posted:

I posted this in the AI Tool thread as well, and I know we have some posters that go back and forth, but for those that don't, any specific recommendations?

Thinking of one of the replies, maybe a small stand alone hand held unit might be better than a USB add-on?

meatpimp posted:

I use an old FLIR One attached to like an iphone 5. Cheapest entry into thermal and I haven't needed anything more.

Edit: They are very useful. I've used mine for checking wall insulation, finding drafts/air ingress areas, AC supply/return differential, main electric service entrance maintenance checks, etc.

Bread Set Jettison posted:

I just bought a condo! Woo! We are sort of lucky in that we aren’t gonna move in until may, so we get to fix some stuff. The duplex was built in 1902, and converted to condos sometime in the early 2000s

I have some questions on various things because the internet is often unreliable.

1. Old house, so it has very very few outlets and a 60amp breaker. We’re gonna add more outlets and update the breaker to 100-150. Price wise the internet says a good electrician will charge 1500 - 2000 for the breaker and 150 a pop for each outlet. My father in law says “nope 10000 dollars, before outlets are added” so who is right?

2. bathroom related, the tub is a converted clawfoot (rad) on wooden flooring (spooky). I feel like it’s urgent that I tile but am I worried about nothing?

3. It’s an old Boston apartment so paint wise it’s got that landlord special. Think a thick costing of paint over various hinges and other dumb poo poo like wainscot and baseboard. Is there ways to undo that without stripping the walls bare and starting over?

Bread Set Jettison posted:

I just bought a condo! Woo! We are sort of lucky in that we aren’t gonna move in until may, so we get to fix some stuff. The duplex was built in 1902, and converted to condos sometime in the early 2000s

I have some questions on various things because the internet is often unreliable.

1. Old house, so it has very very few outlets and a 60amp breaker. We’re gonna add more outlets and update the breaker to 100-150. Price wise the internet says a good electrician will charge 1500 - 2000 for the breaker and 150 a pop for each outlet. My father in law says “nope 10000 dollars, before outlets are added” so who is right?

2. bathroom related, the tub is a converted clawfoot (rad) on wooden flooring (spooky). I feel like it’s urgent that I tile but am I worried about nothing?

3. It’s an old Boston apartment so paint wise it’s got that landlord special. Think a thick costing of paint over various hinges and other dumb poo poo like wainscot and baseboard. Is there ways to undo that without stripping the walls bare and starting over?

skipdogg posted:

Oh the reality check you're about to have about how expensive it is to get a skilled trade to do anything for you in a place like Boston is going to be so much fun to watch.

Bread Set Jettison posted:

I disagree lmao

Bread Set Jettison posted:

I disagree lmao

Also thank you for the pricing on the electrical panel. I can’t figure out why this-old-house says the prices is like 5000 bucks lower.

slurm posted:

Boston is by far the most expensive city I've heard of for this stuff, cost of everything is 3-10x anywhere else.

Bread Set Jettison posted:

Also thank you for the pricing on the electrical panel. I can’t figure out why this-old-house says the prices is like 5000 bucks lower.

ptier posted:

I am a friend of birbs!

Update: I should be having a phone conversation today about it with a person. I will be getting email to keep in contact. They really don't like using those ( looked and sales bro email is his personal gmail).

I think the extra pictures I sent yesterday peaked their interest.


EDIT: Jeez looking at those pictures, I really need to do some rake repairs followed by a scrape and paint. It was the plan, after the gutters... but more so as I look at those. oof. But 60 years ain't bad.

Update 2: Phone call went well. They agree it's poo poo, but for some reason wasn't seeing the fascia above the roof line as a problem. But I don't think they saw the picture right. I sent them the a new pic with drawn on colors and hopefully I'll get that cleared too.




So far Saturday they will be back out to fix all the things.

And I will be hopping on the ladder to check it this time damnit.

ptier posted:

So update on this:

Seemingly they will be out on Saturday to “fix the gutters and they are aware of the fascia situation so they can take care of it.” whatever the hell that means. My guess is there will be a 50/50 chance I get into a yelling match. But whatever.

Fix my poo poo.